Hole found in iOS 4.1 allows jailbreak

Within hours of the iOS 4.1 update being released, a hole has been located that could allow users to jailbreak their iOS devices, despite claims by the iPhone Dev-Team that the update would prevent future jailbreaking.

The hole was announced on Twitter by iPhone Dev-Team member pod2g. It was confirmed by several others later on in the day.

The exploit is found in the boot ROM of the device. The Register also notes that it could be hard for Apple to stop because it uses a low-level part of the OS – unless they make changes to the hardware.

The previous method, using two bugs in the operating system – including a PDF exploit – was easy to block because it just required an update.

We’re assuming that this will work with all iOS devices (The Register notes that all devices shipped since November carry the same ROM vulnerability), but we can’t be sure if the devices include the iPod touch (forth generation).